The Zeigarnik effect and intrinsic motivation: Are they the same?

The present study focused on delineating the parameters under which intrinsic motivation leads an individual to reengage an activity from those that result in the Zeigarnik effect. In a posttask free-choice period, participants not completing the experimental task displayed more reengagement behavior than participants completing the task (the Zeigarnik effect). When participants were also provided self-efficacious performance feedback via a prearranged competitive outcome manipulation, there was no evidence of the Zeigarnik effect, while there was support for intrinsic motivation from competent self-efficacious performance feedback. Results were discussed in terms of distinguishing between intrinsic motivation and the Zeigarnik effect as sources of reengagement motivation. It was concluded that, in the presence of self-efficacious performance feedback, the competent-incompetent impression was more salient than task-completion feedback.Preparation of this article was supported by Texas Christian University grant TCU/RF 5-23757.     

A comparison of three predictors of an individual's memory performance: the individual's feeling of knowing versus the normative feeling of knowing versus base-rate item difficulty

Distinctions are drawn between different predictors of an individual's memory performance, with emphasis on the notion of privileged access to idiosyncratic knowledge. Research is reported in which undergraduates attempted to recall the answers to general-information questions, then made feeling-of-knowing judgments on nonrecalled items, and subsequently had a criterion test (relearning, perceptual identification, or one of two versions of recognition). For predicting an individual's criterion performance, the individual's own feeling-of-knowing predictions were intermediate between two kinds of normative predictions: The individual's feeling-of-knowing predictions were more accurate than predictions derived from normative feeling-of-knowing ratings but were less accurate than predictions derived from base-rate item difficulty (normative probabilities of correct recall). Subsidiary analyses showed that factors other than unreliability are responsible for the partial inaccuracy of the individual's feeling of knowing. Ramifications are discussed for possible ways to improve the accuracy of an individual's feeling-of-knowing predictions.     

Cross-sectional studies of personality in a national sample: 1. Development and validation of survey measures

Short scales were developed to measure three broad dimensions of personality in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) Epidemiologic Followup Study. Items to measure neuroticism were selected rationally from the General Well-Being Schedule, and items to measure extraversion and openness to experience were selected by multiple regression from the NEO Personality Inventory. In a sample of 654 men and women from the Augmented Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, all three short scales showed clear evidence of convergent and discriminant validity against full scales in self-reports, and against peer and spouse ratings. Because they were developed and validated on a sample with a comparable age range, the NHANES scales should be useful in examining age trends in these three personality dimensions in a national sample.     

Book reviews

Current Psychology -     

Marital dissolution and distress in a psychiatric population: A longitudinal design

There has been interest in recent years in the relationship between marital distress and psychopathology. It has been rare, however, for investigators to follow patients after their release from the hospital and observe the course of their marital relationships. The present study included patients meeting criteria for three DSM III DISORDERS (MAjor depressive, bipolar, and schizophrenic) and a normal control sample, all of whom are participants in an ongoing longitudinal study of children at risk for psychopathology (Stony Brook High-Risk Project; Weintraub & Neale, 1984). Marital Adjustment Test (MAT; Locke & Wallace, 1959) scores were collected on patients at entry into the project (Phase I) and at a three year follow-up (Phase II). Course of marriage was defined as negative if the couple's marital adjustment was rated as poor at Phase II or resulted in divorce or separation at Phase II. It was found that only the depressed group differed from the normal group in having significantly worse course of marital relationship; 84% of the depressive couples showed a “negative” course of marital change over time. However, all three patient groups had significantly higher rates of divorce by Phase II. MAT scores at Phase I successfully predicted course of marital relationship for all diagnostic groups. Implications for aftercare of psychiatric inpatients are discussed.     

Modeling feature perception in brief displays with evidence for positive interdependencies

Recent studies have begun to test certain fundamental assumptions underlying popular models of feature perception. This research is continued here. It was discovered that every basic assumption that was open to test in the present study was disconfirmed. However, several new characteristics of line and curve feature perception were discovered: (1) Feature perception sensitivity was inversely related to the number of features present in a stimulus pattern, and the decision criteria for reporting a feature decreased with the number of features contained in a pattern; (2) the decrements in sensitivity reported in (1) were greater for features lying inside a pattern than for those on the exterior; and (3) feature perception sensitivity actually improved if another feature was known to be correctly perceived during the same trial. Likewise, feature sensitivity decreased if another feature was missed on any trial. At the present time, a system that first extracts global and then local (more detailed) featural information provides a basis that qualitatively accounts for our findings and is also compatible with several other studies in the literature.     

Locus of control and delinquency

A sample of delinquent and nondelinquent male adolescents was assessed with respect to locus of control and intellectual achievement responsibility. Data were also gathered concerning age, family size, birth order, socioeconomic status, race, and school grade. Results were subjected to a multivariate analysis and showed support for a multidimensional model of locus of control. There was no difference in expectancy of control for negative academic events between delinquents and nondelinquents. In general, birth order and delinquency were the two most important determinants of locus of control. Results are discussed in terms of previous literature on locus of control with particular consideration paid to expectations of control.     

Relationships between adolescent drug use and parental drug behaviors

The present study examined some previously reported relationships between drug use by adolescents and perceived attitudes and behaviors of their parents. An anonymous questionnaire was administered to the student body of an inner-city secondary school for difficult students. Relationships between parental use of drugs and adolescent use of the same drugs were moderate and roughly equivalent across drugs. However, parental use of marijuana was strongly related to the adolescent's use of other, harder drugs such as opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, and barbiturates. This finding is explained within the framework of Kandel's postulated stages of drug initiation. It points to a need for further study of parental influences, which may be increasingly problematic as more individuals who have grown up in our marijuana-accepting society become parents of adolescents.     

Induction by reinforcer schedules.

Traditional strategies for determining whether a reinforcer schedule enhances the occurrence of an activity are reviewed and critically evaluated. A basic assumption underlying these strategies is that it is possible to isolate the effect of reinforcer intermittency on schedule induction. It is concluded that this is not, in fact, possible. An alternative approach is proposed that emphasizes the inductive effects of the reinforcer schedule as a unit and the effects of particular aspects of the reinforcer schedule (e.g., interreinforcer interval, repetition of the reinforcer, reinforcer magnitude).